Obama girls to go to Sidwell

WASHINGTON — President-elect Obama and his wife have chosen Sidwell Friends School for their daughters, opting for a private institution that another White House child, Chelsea Clinton, attended.

"A number of great schools were considered," said Katie McCormick Lelyveld, a spokeswoman for Michelle Obama. "In the end, the Obamas selected the school that was the best fit for what their daughters need right now."

She said Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7, "bring with them a number of security and privacy concerns that come with being part of the new first family — and the school they've selected is positioned to appropriately accommodate that."

She also said that Sasha and Malia had become good friends with Vice President-elect Joseph Biden's grandchildren, who go to the school.

Sidwell is a private Quaker school with a campus in northwest Washington for grades 5-12 and another in suburban Bethesda, Md., for kindergarten through fourth grade. Malia is in fifth grade, and Sasha is in second grade.

Michelle Obama and her daughters visited Sidwell and another private school, Georgetown Day, this week.

While public schools were considered, Lelyveld said, the Obamas thought that a private school was in the best interest of their children. The two girls currently attend the private University of Chicago Laboratory Schools, where Michelle Obama is on the board.

Sidwell's annual tuition is $28,442 at the lower school and $29,442 at the middle and upper schools.

Verizon fires workers for privacy breach

WASHINGTON — Verizon Wireless on Friday fired an unspecified number of employees it said had accessed President-elect Obama's old cellphone records without permission.

The firings ended an internal investigation into the matter.

Verizon Wireless earlier had disclosed the privacy breach and apologized to Obama.

Obama aides had said no voice mails or e-mails were accessed.

Verizon Wireless chief executive Lowell McAdam had said Obama's account with the company has been inactive for several months.

School renamed for president-elect

NEW YORK — An elementary school near New York City has been renamed after President-elect Obama.

The Hempstead Union Free School District board voted unanimously Thursday night to rename Ludlum Elementary School as Barack Obama Elementary School.

The change went into effect immediately, school officials said Friday.

Officials for the Long Island district said they think the school is the country's first to be named after the first black president-elect.

Most of the 466 Hempstead pupils are black or Hispanic, and Obama's election was a big source of pride, principal Jean Bligen said Friday.

Seattle Times news services